BUTTERSCOTCH PECAN ROLLS

From Donna Michels.

Here is the recipe for BUTTERSCOTCH PECAN ROLLS  (Read through entire
recipe before starting, to get ingredients ready, etc.)


Basic Sweet Roll Dough (makes about 3 dozen rolls---I fill two 9-inch
round cake pans and one 9-inch square pan)

In a large (about 6 qt) bowl
Measure
1/2 cup warm water
Add and mix till smooth
2 pkgs. dry yeast

Stir in
11/2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I think salad oil is meant, but I've used olive oil if
it's not too strong)

To this mixture, gradually add flour (You need at least 7 cups
altogether;  about 5 or 6 just to get the dough out of the bowl and
I'm not sure how much I add while kneading.)  Knead on a
flour-sprinkled surface until dough is smooth---about 10 minutes.

Put about a tsp. of oil in the bottom of the bowl (you don't have to
wash the bowl first), swirl the ball of dough to coat its bottom with
oil, then turn dough over and repeat, so dough is slightly oiled all
over, then cover bowl with cloth and let rise.  (You don't need a very
warm place for dough to rise.  It goes faster if warmer, but it will
rise slowly anyway, and some say it tastes better if it rises cool.)

It takes about 1 1/2 hours to rise till double, sometimes longer,
depending on temperature.  If using a 6 qt bowl, the dough will rise
to the top. It took over 2 hours to do this at room temp. The test is
to stick a finger into it and if the hole from your finger remains in
the dough, it's risen enough.  But you can tell when it's double by
looking at it.

Punch it down and let it rise till almost double again.  This rising
is about 1/2 hour.

While the dough is rising the last time, you can get the pans ready.
In each pan, melt
3 Tbs. butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 cup (or as many as you want) pecans
Melt and mingle over the surface of each pan and keep warm so it stays soft.

Cut the dough in half and use a rolling pin to make two rectangles
(about 16 x 9) on a lightly floured surface.

Presoften a stick of butter, spread each piece generously, and coat
with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. (This is easiest if you mix
ahead of time in a bowl---about 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon to 1/2 cup
sugar---and put this in a shaker.)  Then roll up like a jelly roll, so
each is a long (15-18 in. long) tube about 2 inches or so in diameter.
 Try to end with the free side on the bottom to keep from unravelling.
 Then use a sharp knife to make 11/2 in slices.  You end up with about
3 dozen coiled rounds.

Place each round flat into the prepared pans and let rise 1/2 hour.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes so they are browned and the innermost
roll looks flaky, not doughy, when separated with a couple of forks.

Place a large platter over the pan while still hot and invert the
whole thing, so the pan is upsidedown over the platter, and the nuts
and syrup are now on top when you slowly lift the pan off.

Sometimes I make the recipe as far as cutting the dough and placing
the sliced dough in the pans, and then I cover them with plastic wrap
and refrigerate to bake later.  You're supposed to let the rolls come
to room temperature before baking. but I don't know how necessary this
is.  The rolls seem to do their last rising right in the refrigerator.

Donna Michels with her Butterscotch Pecan Rolls.